Well I'm back off holiday, nicely tanned and I've just realised just how cold, damp and short the days here are. It looks like we are rapidly approaching the Autumn/Winter building days and a lot less flying going on.

As a result of my holiday I have had very little time for anything this month so I will just give an idea of what I have been up to and what my future plans are now that the nights are drawing in.

Power Parachute Latest!
Firstly the powered parachute. This is yet to be tried using the Team Gear Sport Single but I am hoping for success when I do.

I removed the canopy, which is a high power sport kite parafoil and took it on holiday with me. I went to Bali again this year where the national pass-time is kite flying due to the very steady constant warm (33 degrees) breeze. Here I realised that the canopy will go directly overhead unlike most kites but at that position it has almost no pull what so ever. In full flight against the wind it produced enough power to dig me into the sand on the beach and almost pull me over .. no mean feat believe me! From this I have deduced that for maximum canopy pull on take off I need to change the angle of the canopy relative to the cradle so that it maintains the upthrust. I will work on this for next month and maybe the Twin engine will go back in after all!

On a personal note I would like to thank all of the staff, and thoroughly recommend, the Hotel Putri Bali in Nusa Dua, Bali .. yet again the holiday that dreams are made of. There are, however, no model shops as far as I could see and no model flying over there. This is probably due to the fact that a well paid resident can look forward to a wage of about £75 per month, most of which will go in renting somewhere to live - doesn't leave much for models and radio gear does it? Yet they are the nicest, most pleasant and happy people I have ever met - lets hope we don't spoil them due to our tourism.

Park Flyers
OK, back to modelling. As I still have at least three kits waiting to be built - the foam Pfalz, the foam Spitfire and the large balsa Custom Cruiser - I though I might have a stab at doing kit reviews over the next few months, as well as covering the other aspects of what I am getting up to and any updates on my existing projects.

Here are the Pfalz and Spifire kits to give you a taster.(right)

Pfalz DIII
I am going to start with the Pfalz as I have all of the components for this now. The kit is a Park Flyer and distributed by J. Perkins and available from myself at £57.95 (plus p+p of course)
Here is a picture of the contents (below) of the kit plus the equipment I have to complete it.

It's a really nice kit, all in fairly tough foam and with a few scale type lines and markings and ready painted. Well cut balsa and ply parts are included along with some scale looking decals to finish the job.

I have 2 Ripmax SD150 micro servos, a tiny Xtra 12 speed controller, a lovely Lexors Mini 6 channel micro receiver and for power, I have 7cell 370mah battery packs to power the geared RC280SA motor.
As with all kits, read the instructions at least twice, identify all parts and then keep reading the instructions and prior to mixing any glue!

The instructions are pretty good and these tie in with the diagrams included on them so it's nicely done.
It is worth checking everything in advance and give lots of fore though before beginning. I was going to start it a while ago but wanted to get everything together first before I did anything just in case I needed to change something to suit the equipment I had.

When I bought it, it came with two battery packs and so I want to use these rather than to buy more. A full check of the kit and trial fitting together of a few bits revealed that the battery packs were a little too wide for the battery container. Plenty of room in the model and the extra cells should give more power and longer flying time, but it will need the battery compartment modifying before I start. The receiver is also a little larger than the support provided to "Stick" it on and so this can also be adjusted to suit - good job I waited and didn't mix the glue too early!

Ok - on to construction - I haven't got very far as you can imagine this month, but I have made a start by fitting the front bulkhead/engine mount and the two internal formers. These were a little fiddly and trial fitting is essential to mentally appreciate exactly where they go and the best way to get them there.

Run Out Of Time!
That's it for this month I'm afraid, time really has beaten me, hopefully next month will bring a lot more construction, but as I said, you should spend a lot of time on planning before starting anything. And for those who like to keep the place tidy - don't throw the box away as the inner packaging is used as wing position and alignment templates and is pre cut and pressed for that job.

This review will be continued next month to cover how far I have got with it by then. It looks pretty straight forward so it would be nice to think that - time and weather permitting - it will be completed and a flight review can also be included.

I will then decide what is to be the next project - probably the Spitfire as I am itching to get that in the air. The Custom Cruiser will then be my longer term winter project. All hopefully to be reviewed as they go together and fly.

That's it for this month. More updates and review continuation next month along with any other brain waves or projects that I have entered into by then. There is a possibility that a Baron Helicopter is coming my way, if so this will be a whole new experience for me as I have never been near one - and this one will be getting the Team Gear treatment, that really would prove that you can convert any standard i/c model to electric using my units! - but we'll see.

If you have any questions, requests or suggestions - or if you are a supplier and want something reviewed in this column then please get in touch … maybe you have some thing that is designed as i/c and want it to have the "Team Gear" treatment - just drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.

If you have any questions then please get in touch with Mark at:
ratby@bizonline.co.uk
or check out his web site at:
www.bizonline.co.uk/ratbyaeroplanes